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In Memento, Leonard doesn't lose his memory when he goes to sleep, he just can't form long term memories. This affects his whole day, Leonard can start a task o
by bena 6y ago
In Memento, Leonard doesn't lose his memory when he goes to sleep, he just can't form long term memories. This affects his whole day, Leonard can start a task or conversation and not remember starting it by the time he gets to the end.
There's a scene that starts with Leonard in a hotel room, sitting on a closed toilet, fully clothed, with a bottle of alcohol in his hands. He wonders why is he sitting there and if he's drunk. He then takes a shower. Because he doesn't know why he's in the hotel, he doesn't know why he's in the bathroom, etc. He literally forgot he broke into the room to ambush a guy as he was doing it.
Whereas in 50 First Dates, it is how you described. Lucy replays the same day, she resets when she sleeps. But during the day, she can recall what happens. She can tell you what she had for breakfast, where she got her pineapple, who she met, etc.
- the_af 6y agoYou're right, Leonard has it worse: he doesn't just reset his day, he keeps resetting his last few minutes! Sorry I was unclear. That scene you describe is brilliant, I still remember the monologue: "I don't... feel drunk".
- bena 6y agoIt's one of my favorite movies. Even knowing it beat by beat, I enjoy watching it because it is so well told. Even the narrative structure feels integral to how Nolan wants the story told. So it doesn't feel as "gimmicky" as it could be. It also gives a nice twist on a noir murder mystery. Because the story starts with a murder, then instead of making us guess who did it, it makes us figure out why he did it. With every step giving another piece to that puzzle. So the mystery unfolds linearly while the narrative goes both backwards and forwards to meet back at the beginning of the movie. While I haven't watched Dunkirk or Tenet yet, Memento remains my favorite Christopher Nolan film.